The Role of Information Services in Emergency Preparedness and Response, MLA CE 800

May 15, 2005

Marriott Rivercenter, Salon E, San Antonio, Texas

The Symposium was sponsored by the National Library of Medicine and Medical Library Association Public Health/Health Administration, Federal Libraries, Nursing and Allied Health Resources, and Hospital Libraries Sections. It was held at the MLA 2005 annual meeting.

Background:

State and local firefighters, emergency responders, urban search-and-rescue teams, law enforcement, and public health specialists are the front line of response to terrorist attacks and disasters in the United States. The need to connect these responders and their agencies with the reliable information they need to support rapid and integrated responses is critical. Libraries have always worked to provide access to information needed by their users but typically find it difficult to get good information to public health planners and the frontline responders who need it and in the format that they can best use. Better understanding of the settings and situations in which emergency responders work and the way they use information will help librarians plan for the information needs of those involved in disaster preparedness and response. Librarians can also establish and expand on cooperative efforts to get information and training to the emergency responder community.

Objectives:

• Understand the roles of different types of emergency responders
• Understand where librarians "fit" in the public health and emergency responder world
• Gain new strategies to ensure that the best information is available to public health policy makers
• Gain insights into training and information needs of emergency responders and ways to meet those needs
• See examples of specialized tools and resources available for various components of the public health workforce

Agenda

(Click speaker name below for presentations. Speakers bios )

Photos

• Welcome
• Roy Sahali, Community Resource Coordinator, Pacific Northwest Region, National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Seattle, WA

• Keynote Address
• Harold L. Timboe - MD, MPH, Assistant Vice President for Research Administration and Initiatives, Director, Center for Public Health Preparedness and Medical Research, UTHSCSA, San Antonio, TX

• Public Health Table Top Exercise
• Carl Osaki - MSPH, RS, Northwest Center for Public Health Practice, School of Public Health & Community Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
• Audience Responses - to scenario in Table Top Exercise

• Needs Assessments/Solutions Panel
• National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (MIPT) - Brad Robinson, MLS, PhD, Library Director, MIPT, Oklahoma City, OK
• Lian Ruan - MLS, MA, Director/Head Librarian, Illinois Fire Service Institute Library, Champaign, IL
• Martha R. Szczur - Information Services Division, National Library of Medicine, NIH, Bethesda MD
• Kristine Alpi - MLS, MPH, AHIP, Library Manager, Public Health Library, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York, NY
• Shari Clifton - MLIS, Associate Professor, Head of Reference and Instructional Services, Robert M. Bird Library, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK

• Next Steps/Wrap Up
• Mary Moore - MA, PhD, Director of Libraries at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio

Related Material

• Lessons Learned Information Sharing - (National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (MIPT)) 

• Public Health - First Responders - (National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (MIPT)) 

• inFIRE - (International Network for Fire Information and Reference Exchange (inFIRE))  - a worldwide consortium of libraries with significant collections of fire material

• Especially for Emergency Responders - (National Library of Medicine (NLM) U.S., Specialized Information Services Division) 

• WISER - (National Library of Medicine (NLM) U.S., Specialized Information Services Division) 

• Informatics for Disaster Management Grants - This link is no longer available. Editor's note: An alternative resource is Disaster Information Research Funded by the National Library of Medicine (http://disasterinfo.nlm.nih.gov/dimrc/fundedresearchnlm.html).

• Resource Guide for Public Health Preparedness - (New York Academy of Medicine)  - The specific aims of the Resource Guide project are to: Assess the health information needs of public health professionals with regard to disaster preparedness and bio-terrorist threats; Streamline access to relevant documents and guidelines by creating and distributing a regularly updated Internet resource guide that directly links users to accurate and reliable sources of health-related preparedness information; and Leverage existing information and outreach resources, including the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, to increase the scope and maximize the benefit of project goals.

• Centers for Public Health Preparedness (CPHP) - (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)) 

• Emergency Preparedness and Response - (CDC Information Center) 

• Algorithm for Disaster Information Preparedness: Checklist for Medical Librarians - (New Jersey Hospital Association Library (NJHA))  - This algorithm offers basic steps to assure a medical library is prepared to support the information needs of clinicians and patients in the event of a biochemical attack.